Dr. Nadia Alam Appointed as Faculty Leader for Ontario Anesthesia Human Resource Planning
Dr. Nadia Alam
The Departments of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine and Family and Community Medicine of the University of Toronto, and the Section of Anesthesia and Family Medicine Programs of Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM U) are pleased to announce that Dr. Nadia Alam has been appointed as the Faculty Leader for Ontario Anesthesia Human Resource Planning.
Her appointment became effective on Monday, January 1, 2024.
In this role, Dr. Alam will work closely with the Chairs of the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine and the Department of Family and Community Medicine of the University of Toronto, as well as the NOSM U Anesthesia Section Chair and Division of Clinical Sciences, to advance anesthesia workforce planning and support physician anesthesia care providers in Ontario. She will also collaborate with stakeholders including the Anesthesiologists Section of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, and the Society for Rural Physicians of Canada to advance anesthesia human resource planning for the province of Ontario.
Speaking on her appointment, Dr. Alam shared her vision for the role saying, “Peri-operative care cannot function without anesthetists, and hospitals cannot function without stable peri-operative services. The growing health human resources (HHR) crisis has highlighted how integral local health care systems are to the sustainability of Ontario's communities.
“My goal is to build a clear understanding of the anesthesia shortage we face and to call upon innovative leaders in academic, clinical, political, and non-medical settings to find practical and visionary solutions to Ontario’s anesthesia HHR crisis. Together, we will establish a strong foundation to implement successful policies and programs to recruit and retain talented anesthetists – including family physician anesthetists – across Ontario.”
Thank You
This role was made possible, in part, by a generous donation from the Francis family. Their gift reflects the family’s interest in supporting our department’s foremost priorities, including our work addressing the challenges that many Canadians in rural communities face in accessing anesthesia care and pain medicine.
Dr. Alam's Biography
Dr. Alam is a clinical adjunct faculty and lecturer, cross-appointed with U of T’s Department of Community and Family Medicine as well as the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. Her clinical days are split between work as a GP-anesthetist with Halton Healthcare Services, a comprehensive care family physician, and a palliative care physician.
After achieving an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Biology (2001), Dr. Alam attended medical school at Dalhousie University, graduating in 2006. This was followed by a family medicine residency (2008) and a certificate of added competency in anesthesia (2009) at Queen’s University. She also holds an executive Masters from the London School of Economics in health economics, policy, and management (2019).
Throughout her career, she has been a physician advocate and policymaker for several years, holding various leadership positions on local, regional, and provincial tables. As past president of the OMA, she was instrumental in media and government relations. She also supported an extensive governance transformation at the OMA and helped build support for binding arbitration and a successful physician contract, which helped her build enduring relationships with the physician community, patient advocates, and provincial and municipal leaders and organizations. She has researched and presented before academic faculty, health care stakeholders, media, and governmental organizations on several subjects, including physician burnout, primary care, mental health, health policy, health system performance and funding, artificial intelligence, leadership and advocacy, human cognition, and unconscious bias.
The crisis in primary care led Dr. Alam to work on regional and local policies to stabilize the family physician workforce. Successful achievements included primary care advocacy through the Central Region Primary Care Leadership Council, the Halton Remote Care Monitoring program, the Halton COVID@Home program, and the design and implementation of the Halton SCOPE program.
Over the past two years, in response to the growing shortage in the anesthesia workforce, Dr. Alam became more involved in research and advocacy with the Ontario Anesthesiologists as well as the Collaborative Advisory Group for General Practice/Family Practice Anesthesia as the CFPC representative and co-chair.
In her spare time, Dr. Alam also volunteers with the Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence and is also a medical advisor with Khure Health.
